Apostasy
Questioner:-
I am very interested by the question of apostasy and how Muslims dealt with it throughout the past centuries.
Comment:-
The Shahadah by which a Muslim enters into Islam is also an oath of allegiance to the Islamic community.
When the Islamic community is at war or under threat from an enemy then apostasy may well become treachery and it is treachery for which there is severe penalty in all societies. As for the faith, the Quran tells us that there is no compulsion in religion.
The consequences for conversion or apostasy are spiritual and Allah is the judge. The community is responsible only for the consequences in this world. That is why we have laws.
Questioner:-
You wrote in answer to an apostate:- "Obviously you did not receive the penalty in this world. The Hadith you quote are reports of what happened, not instructions, and refer to the conditions which existed at the time and you do not have all the facts to make any judgment about them. The Quran gives us the instructions and these have to be understood. Certainly Muslims have departed from Islam and misinterpreted and misapplied it, or ignored it altogether. This has been done by adherents of all religions. Why pick on Muslims?"
I am sure you know that for "Muslims" what the prophet has done or said (as it is alleged in this case) is not only an historical report. In fact, at least for the Sunni Muslims, it is the foundation of the Islamic Religion and have in this case the value of a law eternally valid.
Comment:-
No. The foundation is the Quran and the Sunna are interpretations of it. The Quran is a guidance as is stated in the Quran itself. Sunna refers to the sayings and doings of the Prophet. It is not the same thing as Hadith which consists of records of varying degrees of authenticity.
The Sunna of the Prophet consists of explanations and applications of the Quran to the conditions in which he found himself. They are, therefore, examples of how to apply the Quran. These conditions have changed. Had the Prophet lived today he would no doubt have dealt with these changed situations differently. To prove that this is likely the Quran tells us that many Prophets were sent to the world in different places and times. All of them dealt with the different situations they were in, in different ways. But despite these differences we are still required to accept all of them and make no distinction between them.
It follows that the mission and teachings lie at a higher more general level than at the particular level you wish to confine them.
Questioner:-
Even if from the same Quran we can find a huge number of verses which institute the freedom of conscience, ALL jurists of all schools agreed that it is forbidden for a Muslim to change his religion and the apostate must be put to death. Their view (which was a law and is still in some countries) are based on some Hadith and specially one attributed to ibn Abbas.
Comment:-
I have explained above why apostasy may have led to the death sentence.
You cannot make events that happened in the past into a law when it does not, in fact, exist as such in the Quran. If you say that they were executed for changing their faith and not for treason, then you are telling us that it is O.K to flout the Quran when it says there is no compulsion in religion.
If that is what these people were doing then we must condemn their actions.
Questioner:-
This question is not restricted for "certain Muslims" who have misinterpreted or departed from Islam as you say, but it is the official position of "Islam" as defined by Sunnis at least and classically in general.
Comment:-
There is no legitimate organized church or priesthood in Islam - there is, therefore, no "official" position. Every Muslim is responsible for his own soul, he is his own priest. He must make his own studies. On the Day of judgment the excuse that their leaders misled them will not be accepted.
I am sure you have read the Quran and know about these verses.
Unfortunately, knowing is not enough. It is necessary to understand them by relating them together - by "chewing, digesting and assimilating and utilizing"
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